Author: Pam Zubeck
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’08 county sales tax revenue only took slight dip
El Paso County’s sales and use tax revenue for 2008 fell only slightly from the previous year, the latest Treasurer’s Office report shows, dipping only $252,000 below 2007 collections.That’s a big difference from city sales tax collections which have been on a downward plunge for several months.The county’s relative buoyancy is due largely to the…
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Commissary official defends removing Obama photo
A group of Peterson Air Force Base commissary workers met with managers Tuesday to address a union grievance over the removal of a Presidents Day notice because it had President Barack Obama’s picture on it. Management’s response to the grievance wasn’t available, but a spokesman defended the removal of the notice as good customer service…
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Security boy honored for calmness in crisis
A week before Halloween last year, Jason Musgrove got the scare of his life. His mother’s heart started racing and she fainted. So the 10-year-old did as his mom had taught him in an emergency. He dialed 911. He reported his mother’s diabetic attack and stayed on the phone with a sheriff’s dispatcher, monitoring her…
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Grant may give rise to veterans court in Springs
An Air Force interrogator watched his marriage go sour after returning to Colorado Springs from the prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. He pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges for slapping his wife, which cost him his security clearance. The airman, who has no memory of the incident and has been diagnosed…
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Treatment, not jail, for vets?
An Air Force interrogator watched his marriage go sour after returning to Colorado Springs from the prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. He pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges for slapping his wife, which cost him his security clearance. The airman, who has no memory of the incident and has been diagnosed…
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County’s energy-saving measures net almost $550K in ’08
El Paso County’s energy-saving measures, including closing most offices on Fridays, have netted a cost savings of nearly $550,000. County officials couldn’t say how much was saved through specific measures, however, because too many variables figure into the equation, including weather, county spokesman Dave Rose said. County commissioners decided to close the County Administration Building,…
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NORAD: Meteor shower, not space junk, cause of light show in Texas skies
A light show some thought was caused by space junk re-entering the atmosphere Sunday over Texas was a meteor shower, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Monday. Michael Kucharek said the fireball couldn’t be traced to man-made objects. “We don’t think it was space junk,” Kucharek said. “We thought it was…
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County clerk puts all calls on hold; other officials fielding complaints
El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink’s staff stopped answering the phones in his three offices last month, and two elected officials who’ve been hammered with the overflow with no warning aren’t happy about it. Balink couldn’t be reached for comment, but several county workers said the clerk’s office stopped answering the phones because…
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County upset over half-empty garage
Four months after El Paso County reopened its parking garage at Tejon and Costilla streets after adding three floors, county officials wonder why they bothered.Though 45 more spaces are rented monthly today than before it closed in May for construction, less than half the 781 spaces are spoken for.”It’s disappointing,” said county security chief Rick…
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Technology could make snow removal cheaper
El Paso County might go high-tech to make snow removal faster and cheaper. Faced with declining revenues, the county wants to make sure its snowplows go where and when they’re needed. According to a Transportation Department memo, technology could save staff time and fuel. For example, cameras could be installed at the county’s seven maintenance…